Electric water heater



Jan. 26,1926. `1,570,827

J. C. FELDMAN ELECTRIC WATER` HEATER Filed Dec. 6, 1923 2 Sheets-Shea? J amva.

:NVNTOR C3. QZMM/ vQRNEY Jan. 26,1926. 1510,82?

VJ. C. FELDMAN ELECTRIC WATER HEATER INVENTOR j BY- ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 26, 1926.

UNITED STATES g 1,570,827 PATENT joFFlcE.

JOSEPH crnLDMAN, or NEW Yonx, N. Y., AssrGNon To TILLIE K. FELDMAN, oF NEW YORK, N. Y. v

f ELECTRIC WATER HEATER.

' 1:" Application lcd December 6, 1923. Serial yNo. 678,800.

To all whom it conce/rn.'

Be it known that I, JOSEPH C. FELDMAN,

a citizen ofthe United States, residing atr New York city, borough of Manhattan, in

I the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new .and useful Improvements in Electric Water Heaters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to automatic electric water heaters of the general character described and claimed in Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,299,159, issued on the lstday of April, 191,9, to Tillie K. Feldman.v

Among the objects o f the present invention is to simplify and therefore generally im- .prove the construction, operation, and reli- V ability of the v`controlling mechanisms for both the current of electricity and water delivery. y j.

With the foregoing and other objects lin view the invention consists in thevarrange- Vnient and combination of p-arts hereinafter described and claimed, and While the inven- 25.tion is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein, still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had Vto the accompanyingl drawings, in which 0 likeV reference characters designate the same parts in the several views," and in which'- Figure 1 is a vertical sectional lview on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the'principal parts of Fig. 1. v-

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the line of Figs. 1'and 3. Y Fig. 5 is a rear elevation of theswitch mechanism as would be seen from the line 5 5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a view of the saine mechanism withtheswitch closed. r 1

Fig.f.7 is adetail view of the valve actuator or knuckle.

Referring now more vspecifically to vthe' drawings,l my invention will be understood as comprisinga base 10 having lan open bottom and to which are connected suitable supporting. feet or legs 11 and within which is located theV water valve mechanism and means for passing water through'the device. lThis'base includes a 'top or cap 12 having downwardly projecting bosses 13 and 14 for the attachment of the water Supply pipe 15 and delivery pipe 16, as by means of locking nuts 17. Thiscap-plate is provided with a counter sink 18 in its upper surface. i

Secured upon the seat or counter `sink 18 is a heating'unit,comprising a cylindrical body of `porcelain 19, ya `surrounding Vshell 20, a binding cap 21, and -a dome 22. The cap 21 has a seat 21vin its under Surface, and suitable packing members or gaskets 23 are fitted against the top and bottom ends of the body 19-,for making a water tight Seal for this member, and the cap 21 is bound in place by means of vertical tie rods 24 iiXed as by screw threads in holes25 in the base plate 12 and having binding nuts 26 bearing kagainst thetop of the cap 21. These nuts 26 serve incidentally as ornamental features of the construction. YThe dome 22 is shown as hemi-spherical. Its primary function is to' inclose certain electrical connectionsv and it too serves an ornamental oiiice. This member is Shown as secured in .place by means of a' central stud 27 with whichcooperates a toprcap nut 28. Said stud27 is fixed in thevcenter of the body capV 21.

The porcelain or the like body 19 is .provided with any suitable channels 29 fory the passage of water into and throughrv said body, and threaded through said cnannels'is aresistance coil 30. the terminals of which are connected to .binding screws 31 passing through the bodycap 21van'd havingsecured to their upperends within the .dome 22 the leads 32 from anyA suitable vsource .of electricity.

threaded -boss 35 projected rearward through said' front wall of the lbaseV and tapped into said Vfront end of the valve casing. A packing-'gland-36 seals',the. front end of said faucet'body, anda gland 37 seals the rear endof the valve casing.

An actuator or rock shaft 38 is journaled horizontallythrough the base 10 and valve casing 33, having bearings in' the aforesaid glands land also in la center bearing 39 of the valve casingy and also -atthe rear wall of the base vaty 40. `-A suitable handle or knob 41=is secured tothe front end of the rock shaft for manipulating it into vertical neutral position orto the right or left accordthe rock shaft within the rear wall ofv the lin base to limit the rearward movement thereof. The water delivery pipe 16 communicates with a downward extension 43 oi the valve casing, and a valve 44 'adapted to close upward by the combined force of the water flowand a `spring 45 'controls the y'delivery otwa'ter from said extension and pipe 16 'toward the faucet. Said valve and spring are held inV place by 'a plug 46 threaded into the'l'oweiend of said valve body extension 43.l The vvalve' 44 is provided with an upwardlf;7 projecting "stem 47 which'extends through an opening through the valve seat 41S toward ythe rock shaft '38, but has cooperation with a cam 49 lined to said shaft. This cam is largely circular and concentric with the 'shaft but has a reduced or Tlat- "tened side 49, which when registering with the valve stem 47 'will permit the valve to close upon its seat 48 and thusprevent the `delivery ot water through the faucet. Any `suitable means, as for example the collar 42 colo'peratin'g with the 'rear leg attachmentlugfinay be 'provided to limit the 'rotation ot yftli`e-'rocl shaft within 180, one "extreme position being' that for cold water as in Figs. 'l and 2 at whi'chtime the ilatside 49 oit' the "cam is located about 90 'from the stem 47. With the"ro'tation' of the Vrock shaft and y'handle' '4l in a clockwise direction as' from the iront, the `flat 'side of the fcam 'comes into registry with the stem'fand it permits the valve to close. At this time the handle will! be' vertical and no water will be deliver'ed.v 'b'viously rotation of the rock shaft in' either directionl from itsn'eutralposition ot' the-` 'cam'will Acause' the opening o fftlie valve and cold water will be delivered at such times 'except Whentheelectric switch now to bedescribed is closed.

At the rear of the apparatus I provide a` vertically"arranged switch casing` 50' having a rear'door or closure 51. The electric wires above described arefled-into the upper A portion ot 'the A'casing'through holes `53. One Y r 'of these leads 32within the lupper portion i et thefca'sin'g is11parted:andfsuitably' connected at 'spacedpeints 54 to two' IiXed coin Y '"onthe'lower-'end and cbnne'ctedibyfmeans of tov avscreiw 58 atits upper end.` Therear end ffca'sing 50, andltiked to' said rock Vshaft' ad- @jacent` to' Ithe'buter"surface of the rear Wall P of the' base` 10 is an' actuator ork-nuclle 59 vcomprising afhub 60, 'aradially projecting stinger 61,' and aaflug 62 parallel toV they axis 'f Vthel rock 'shaft 38 is located'-vvit-hin :the-

of the knuckle and offset radially from the hub '60. The lug 62 projects longitudinally of the actuator beyond the end of the hub. Being fixed to the lrock shaiitfthis'knuckle Yrotates with it.

Vriedbya block of fiber orthe like throiigh which 'af 'pair ot pins 66 project laterally through ycorrespon ding holes in the upper end' of the arm. These pins are adaptedI to s'lidethrough said holes, 'and springs 67 surrounding the pins normally 'urge the platel or bridge 64 toward the studs '55.

Co-operating with lor beti'veenl vthe rock shaft '38 and the arm 63 is a strong lspring 68 tending to throw the arm vavvay'troin the 'studs 55 and against th'e'remote `side oit' the casing 50 as in Fig. 5, one end of the spring bearing' against the yarnrand the 'other end bearing against vthe rbottom fthe casing,

`the intermediate portion" of the springbeing' coiled around the' extreme rear end of th'erocl shaft and held thereon as by :means ot a cotter 69 and so servingl incidentally to 4hold the" arm 63 in place.

- Between 'the shaft 38 zan'dfthe free end of fthe' ai'in it ils'fprovidedwith a pair of trans- "rerse holesf'TO and 7l 'through which' "are sii'dably tted a locking pin 72 -and a releasing pin 73 respectively. These `pins are connected'to a leaf Vspring74 secured at its upper end as by a 'screw 75 tothe arm. is

= slio'wn'clearly in 'F 1 these pinsare adapt?, ed toproj'ect through and beyond said holes V in the arm, and the flowckin'g pin, by virtue oi the spring 74', lis adapted to'snap `inward into engagement with the end oi" a stop 76 I-lxed tothe nner'walliofithe casingand located suiiiciently far from the actuator or knuckle t'o permitfthe Afinger 61 to pass beneath it while making rotation with the lvalve mechanisms` Hence 'said finger 6l by a wiping action serves topress the'pin 73 outward 'and so withdraw or :release the' locking pin 72 from? itsholding position. It being understood that thepositin` fthe knuckle in Fig. 5 approxim'ates'the position to be occupied by it when the' handle '41 is turned for the delivery 'of 'cold water,"a rotation of the handle and roclrfshaftv toward its oppositevposition or toward-fthel'ett as in Figs. '5 and'6,` Will bring' the lug 62into 'contact withffthe edge of the farmfand so Vbring said Aarm and its circuit closing 'bridged 64'i'nto the position shown in Fig. 6, closing the circuit. During the latter part of this movement ofthe arm the operator vapplies suiiicient force to it to compress the "springs 167,- m'akin-'g' afnrore 4reliable Contact between' the studs and permitting the locking pin 72 to snap over the end of the stop 7 6. This locking pin as describedl and shown in Fig. 6 serves to hold the switch armk in closed position and against the force of the spring 68. VAt this time the `releasing pin 73 will have passed inward to the rear of the finger 6l. At this time the circuit will be closed and the valve 44 will be opened by the action of the cam 49 for the delivery of waterl which is being heated as it passes through the body 19 asa result of its contact with the resistance coil 30. It is obviousthat a full stroke of the valve handle toward the right is necessary to closev and lock the switch closed to insure the delivery of hot water. Otherwise the spring 68 will throw the switch toward the position of Fig. 5. To cut olf the hot water, however, the operator has simply to actuate the handle slightly in a reverse direction to ycause the finger 61 to release the locking pin and permit the switch arm to snapk to its spacedpositionv as in Fig. 5. y n f It will be appreciated that this mechanism is of a most simple, compact, and hence reliable nature, sure to operate and is proving in practice most satisfactory.

I claim:

1. The herein described switch mechanism for automatic water heaters comprising a pair of spaced contact studs, a bridge, a switch arm carrying atfits free end said bridge, a manually loperated rock shaft on which the end of the arm remote from theV bridge is journale'd freely, a spring acting upon the arm tending to throw it in one direction to open the switch, an actuating knuckle fixed to the rock shaft and having lost motion engagement with the arm for positive movement thereof in the opposite.

with the arm to close the switch at the time the rock shaft is making thelast part of. its movement in one direction, and locking means is provided co-operating with said automatically locking said circuit closing means` to retain the circuit closed, said ac- -tuator having means both to close said circuit closing means and to release said locking means when the circuit closing means is to be opened to permit the aforesaid automatic means to operate the circuit closing means, said actuator having spaced means comprising a plurality of members one of which is adapted to actuate said circuit closing means to close the sameA against the force of said resilient means, while the other is adapted to release said locking means when the circuit is to be opened. v

v 4. The herein described switch mechanism lcomprising spaced contact means for actuating the same including a switch arm, a shaft upon which said arm is mounted for ing circuit closing means having a switchl 'break said circuit, and locking` means for swinging movement to close the switch, rev silient means co-operating with said switch arm tending to open the switch, means for locking the switch arm in closed position including a member mounted on the switch arm and arranged for movement'thereon,

and a knuckle mounted on said shaft and movable relatively to said switch arm, said knuckle having a plurality of spaced eXtensionsr at a face thereof, one of which forms an abutment for the switch arm arranged to strike `and close the switch when the knuckle is `rotated in one direction while the other' forms a cam arranged to move knuckle is rotated in the oppositefdirection to move said locking means as aforesaid and permit the switch to be'opened.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature.

JOSEPH C. -FELDMAN.

` in `contiguity'to Vsaid switch arm when the 

